CHIEF Minister Chow Kon Yeow is hoping Penang can become the venue for more inter-faith dialogues and peace initiatives to help foster greater relations between the people.
Such initiatives are necessary, as multi-racialism has formed the foundation of this nation for years and efforts must be made to preserve this, he said after opening the recent international interfaith peace conference at the Bahang Bay resort.
Chow said the situation was made worse with the abuse of social media which can drive hatred through inaccurate postings and create misunderstandings.
“The best medium to counter it, is to organise as many peace conferences or dialogues as possible, so the message of peace and brotherhood can be adopted," he said.
This was the first time the conference, organised by the Allied Coordinating Council of Islamic non-governmental organisations Malaysia (ACCIN), was held outside the Klang Valley.
It was also the fourth edition of its kind in the country.
Chow said that Penang was an ideal platform to host such dialogues and other forms of mediation efforts due to the high concentration of civil society and human rights advocates.
Former Balik Pulau Member of Parliament Yusmadi Yusoff, who is a strong proponent for incorporating dialogues, said that there exists an Asian Dialogue Society (ADS) of which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also taken an interest in.
Under his RIGHTS foundation platform, Yusmadi has been pushing for a return of the ADS into the mainstream in view of the growing level of uncertainties facing the world.
"We need to have a new understanding of where the world is heading. Can we co-exist as tiny nations in a multi-polar world. Yes, we can but we also need to showcase our strengths such as in Malaysia where discourses are a popular culture."
Since the realities of the world have changed, there is need for something - for dialogues to comprehend the new realities, said Yusmadi.
Through dialogues, and the use of various media outreach platforms to promote the idealism of it, people can better grasp the new world that they find themselves in, he said.
ADS was led by the late Thai Foreign Minister Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, who envisioned what ASEAN should be like before his untimely death in 2017 at the age of 68.
Pitsuwan had then saw that the ASEAN grouping of 10 and soon 11, when East Timor is formally accepted into the regional bloc of member nations later this month, can become the impetus to foster dialogues. – October 5, 2025
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